Passport Marine Officially Over
04-06-2008, 09:27 AM
#41
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Larry, the marina (Hi-Lift) is doing fine. It is a separate entity that leased space to Passport. Premier Performance Marine (service) is also a separate entity that leases space from the marina as well and it is business as usual. The only entity to suffer was Passport. We are very busy.
This is DEFINITELY more than just a simple lease transaction
04-06-2008, 09:45 AM
#42
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Where is this boat going now? Is it sold, or bank auction. I'm sure theres a ton of curious people.
04-06-2008, 10:32 AM
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Tom,
I expected not, but I thought I'd ask just in case. Our teams always worked well together, and the more time I spend in this business the more I value those easy relationships. They are getting harder to come by as time goes on!
I expected not, but I thought I'd ask just in case. Our teams always worked well together, and the more time I spend in this business the more I value those easy relationships. They are getting harder to come by as time goes on!
04-06-2008, 10:38 AM
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Same thing happened to us with them. They would not work with the price at all, then had the balls to show us a 135k number and say "thats what we have into this boat". Oh really? You mean it wasn't traded in for 90k? I understand they needed to make some money, but they were being really unrealistic with price for the condition of the boat, and market.
Where is this boat going now? Is it sold, or bank auction. I'm sure theres a ton of curious people.
Where is this boat going now? Is it sold, or bank auction. I'm sure theres a ton of curious people.
04-06-2008, 07:17 PM
#45
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Hey, Dave:
The problem is they (Formula) would have to eat too much "humble pie" and I don't think they have it in them to do so. They basically took a good dealership network and completely broke it apart and for what? Passport Marine? Is there anyone on earth (other than the folks at Formula) that really thought that was going to work?
They were completely arrogant in the way they approached us (and the other dealers, I would assume). Like we were doing $10 million a year because the boats were so great- it had nothing at all to do with us, our reputation, our facilities, how hard we worked, etc. I would think some heads are going to roll because of this, because it is going to be VERY hard for them to fix this mess.
Tom
The problem is they (Formula) would have to eat too much "humble pie" and I don't think they have it in them to do so. They basically took a good dealership network and completely broke it apart and for what? Passport Marine? Is there anyone on earth (other than the folks at Formula) that really thought that was going to work?
They were completely arrogant in the way they approached us (and the other dealers, I would assume). Like we were doing $10 million a year because the boats were so great- it had nothing at all to do with us, our reputation, our facilities, how hard we worked, etc. I would think some heads are going to roll because of this, because it is going to be VERY hard for them to fix this mess.
Tom
04-06-2008, 07:38 PM
#46
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I looked at the Cig. PB as well. My price was under 130k's but the boat needed a lot of help. I would be interested to know what bank will end up with the inventory.
BTW. Egg Harbor has the Avanti molds but making CC's not go fasts.
BTW. Egg Harbor has the Avanti molds but making CC's not go fasts.
04-07-2008, 07:27 AM
#47
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Hey, Dave:
The problem is they (Formula) would have to eat too much "humble pie" and I don't think they have it in them to do so. They basically took a good dealership network and completely broke it apart and for what? Passport Marine? Is there anyone on earth (other than the folks at Formula) that really thought that was going to work?
They were completely arrogant in the way they approached us (and the other dealers, I would assume). Like we were doing $10 million a year because the boats were so great- it had nothing at all to do with us, our reputation, our facilities, how hard we worked, etc. I would think some heads are going to roll because of this, because it is going to be VERY hard for them to fix this mess.
Tom
The problem is they (Formula) would have to eat too much "humble pie" and I don't think they have it in them to do so. They basically took a good dealership network and completely broke it apart and for what? Passport Marine? Is there anyone on earth (other than the folks at Formula) that really thought that was going to work?
They were completely arrogant in the way they approached us (and the other dealers, I would assume). Like we were doing $10 million a year because the boats were so great- it had nothing at all to do with us, our reputation, our facilities, how hard we worked, etc. I would think some heads are going to roll because of this, because it is going to be VERY hard for them to fix this mess.
Tom
Thanks for the update......
To simplify this for the rest of OSO. Formula, a company with a proud heritage and a good (not great) product line, had the absolute best dealer network in the industry. This dealer network (not the boats, because a Mercruiser is a Mercruiser after all and that is their basis for any product consistency, warrantees, etc) provided world class facilities, maintenance departments, inventories, support, and customer service. Tom, Tony Caligiure and others represented this group and devoted time, talent and substantial investment over many years to put Formula at a leadership position in the industry, in spite of their somewhat dated designs and middling performance.
Some of these guys did over $150 MILLION each in sales over the past 10-15 years, yet after some half assed leverage artists blew in their ears, Formula abandoned many of their most loyal and productive dealers, canceling previous orders and leaving them with a slew of Formula customers and no factory backing. This created devastating losses to those dealers, at the very worst economic moment, and leaves understandable hard feelings. A couple of these guys have been friends of mine for years and I have watched this first hand.
Now the inevitable has happened, the "balloon" has burst and the helium Formula bought into has evaporated. Frankly I hope that Formula never sells another boat....except through Magic Float....and that he winds up controlling them. Over the years I have railed at the "golf shirt wearing marketing types" that ruined the performance boating industry, were parasites on Offshore Racing, and generally "dumbed down" the high speed boating world.
Guess who headed my list?
T2x
Last edited by T2x; 04-07-2008 at 07:31 AM.
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04-07-2008, 08:18 AM
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You said it perfectly t2x.
I want to see how all these boating publications follow up on this. They all were putting out puff piece after puff piece on this Dillon/Sturner duo as if they were the new wonder boys in the industry. They were going to conquer the world!
I want to see how all these boating publications follow up on this. They all were putting out puff piece after puff piece on this Dillon/Sturner duo as if they were the new wonder boys in the industry. They were going to conquer the world!
